The present invention relates a method and system for selectively configuring features and functions of a consolidated software application for particular end users. More particularly, the present invention permits multiple levels of customization of a consolidated software application by marketing groups, system administrators, and end users.
One particular consolidated software application in an illustrated embodiment relates to a healthcare management system consolidated software application. Many fields of medical treatment and healthcare require monitoring of certain body functions, physical states and conditions, and patient behaviors. Thus, e.g., for patients suffering from diabetes, a regular check of the blood glucose level forms an essential part of the daily routine. The blood glucose level has to be determined quickly and reliably, often several times per day. Medical devices are used to facilitate the collection of medical information without unduly disturbing the lifestyle of the patient. A large number of medical devices for monitoring various body functions are commercially available. Also, medical treatment and healthcare may require monitoring of exercise, diet, meal times, stress, work schedules and other activities and behaviors.
To reduce the frequency of necessary visits to doctors, the idea of home care gained popularity over the recent years. Technological advancements in medicine led to the increased use of medical devices. Many of these medical devices, such as meters and medicine delivery devices, are able to collect and store measurements and other data for long periods of time. Other devices, such as computers, portable digital assistants (PDAs), and cell phones, have been adapted to medical uses by the development of software directed to the collection of healthcare data. These advancements led to the development of health management systems that enable collection and use of large numbers of variables and large amounts of healthcare data.
A common feature of health management systems is the ability to convey information. Information can include raw data, graphical representations of data such as statistical display objects, explanations and textual interpretations, inferential information and so on. Communication and understanding can be improved by using interactive graphs and reports to convey information. Interactivity is achieved using computing devices and software applications. Generally described, individuals can interact with software applications residing on computing devices, such as personal computers, hand-held computers, mobile computing devices, and the like in a variety of ways. In one particular embodiment, the development of graphical user interfaces (GUI) facilitates user interaction with these various software applications resident in the computing device. For example, a user may manipulate a graphical user interface to interact with a data processing application or to communicate with other computing devices and/or users via a communication network.
In a typical embodiment, a GUI can display a number of display objects that are individually manipulable by a user utilizing a user input device. For example, the user can utilize a computer keyboard, mouse, touch screen, touch pad, roller ball or voice commands and the like to select a particular display object and to further initiate an action corresponding to the selected display object. While user input devices have been described in the context of devices configured to manipulate display objects and provide commands to the computing device, generally speaking a user input device is any device capable of providing user input to a computing device and input is not limited to the provision of commands. User input may additionally comprise data which may be provided by medical devices, or computing devices including PDAs and phones.
A consolidated software application illustratively includes software having a plurality of different features to perform the variety of functions as discussed herein. However, some features and functions contained in the consolidated software application may not be useful to particular groups of users. For example, patients or consumers do not need all the same feature sets and functions that a healthcare professional, managed care provider, health maintenance organization (HMO) or insurance company representative may need. Therefore, it is desirable that the consolidated software application be customizable to selectively display certain features and functions on the GUI accessible by the end user. As discussed in detail herein, users in certain geographic regions may also prefer different features and functions. In addition, user with rights in certain fields of use may be authorized to access only certain features and functions. The system of the present invention permits multiple levels of customization of the consolidated software application to address these varying needs.
In an illustrated embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for customizing a consolidated software application including a plurality of features and functions for a particular end user. The method comprises activating selected features and functions of the consolidated software application during installation of the consolidated software application on a computing device having a user interface accessible by an end user, displaying activated features and functions which were activated during the activating step on a user interface accessible by a system administrator, permitting the system administrator to selectively enable and disable activated features and functions after installation of the consolidated software application on the computing device, displaying activated and enabled features and functions on the user interface accessible to the end user, permitting the end user to selectively show and hide active and enabled features and functions from display on the user interface, and removing those features and functions that the end user selects to hide from display of the user interface accessible to the end user.
In one illustrated embodiment, information related to non-active features and functions of the consolidated software application which were not activated during the activating step is not displayed on the user interfaces accessible by the system administrator and the end user. In addition, information related to disabled features and functions that were disabled by the system administrator during the selectively enabling and disabling activated features step is also not displayed on the user interface accessible by the end user.
In another illustrated embodiment of the present invention, a method of multi-level customization of a consolidated software application by a marketing group, a system administrator, and an end user is provided. The method comprises permitting a marketing group to selectively activate the features and functions of the consolidated software application based on at least one of a geographic region of the end user, a type of end user, and a permitted field of use for the end user during installation of the consolidated software application on a computing device having a user interface accessible by the end user, permitting a system administrator to selectively enable and disable activated features after installation of the consolidated software application, permitting the end user to selectively show and hide active and enabled features and functions from display on the user interface, and removing those features and functions that the end user selects to hide from a display of the user interface accessible to the end user.
In one illustrated embodiment, the consolidated software application is configured to provide a plurality of different features and functions to process physiological information data received from a portable device related to management of a health condition. The consolidated software application also includes instructions to display representations of physiological information data on the user interface. Illustratively, the consolidated software application includes a plurality of styles of display icons, graphics, backgrounds and color schemes which may be used on a display of the user interface accessible by the end user. The marketing group activates selected styles of icons, graphics, backgrounds and color schemes to adjust a look and feel of the software.
In yet another illustrated embodiment of the present invention, a healthcare management system is configured to receive and process physiological information data related to at least one patient from a portable device. The healthcare management system comprises a computing device configured to access and download physiological information data from a portable device, a memory accessible by the computing device to store the downloaded physiological information data, at least one user interface having a display which receives display information from computing device, and software configured to operate on the computing device and implement a plurality of different features and functions to manage the physiological information data from the portable device related to management of a health condition. The software includes instructions to display representations of physiological information data included in the memory on the display of the user interface. The system also comprises means for activating selected features and functions of the consolidated software application during installation of the consolidated software application on the computing device, means for displaying activated features and functions which were activated by the activating means on the display of the user interface accessible by a system administrator, means for permitting the system administrator to selectively enable and disable activated features and functions after installation of the consolidated software application on the computing device, means for displaying activated and enabled features and functions on the user interface accessible to the end user, means for permitting the end user to selectively show and hide active and enabled features and functions from display on the user interface, and means for displaying information related to those features and functions that the end user selects to show on the display on the user interface accessible to the end user.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. Although the drawings represent embodiments of various features and components according to the present invention, the drawings are not necessarily to scale and certain features may be exaggerated in order to better illustrate and explain the present invention. The exemplification set out herein illustrates embodiments of the invention, and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.